


Mystery, Mystery

by Cheeky_rose



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Also inspired by a few muder mistery novels, Alternate Universe, But the other members are there all the time don't worry, Butler Wen Junhui, Detective Boo Seungkwan, Detective Lee Jihoon, Doctor Jeon Wonwoo, First chaptered fic this is the hill we die on, Help I just love svt in suits, How Do I Tag, Inspired by Bad Clue, Lawyer Hong Jisoo, M/M, Might add more relationship tags with time who knows, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Mystery, Prosecutor Lee Chan, Reporter Kwon Soonyoung, Secretary Chwe Hansol, The author has no sense of time, The crime novel I always wanted to write when I was younger, Wen Junhui Knows Everything, Yes Boo Seungkwan is the main character as he Should, not me, obviously, seventeen au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:35:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29358852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheeky_rose/pseuds/Cheeky_rose
Summary: Inspired by Going Seventeen: Bad Clue.Boo Seungkwan is a rising detective fighting for justice in the big city. When he gets assigned to investigate the murder of Park Taesan, one of the most powerful businessman in the country, he soon discovers that things are not what they seem.Amidst the mystery surrounding the Chairman’s death, Seungkwan is forced to face the truth: Nothing is ever black or white, and justice is a subjective concept wider than he could ever imagine.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Kim Mingyu/Xu Ming Hao | The8, Lee Jihoon | Woozi/Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Lee Jihoon | Woozi/Yoon Jeonghan, Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Yoon Jeonghan
Kudos: 6





	Mystery, Mystery

**Author's Note:**

> As always, this is a work of fiction, and it has nothing to do with any real actions from any Seventeen member.

_ 4th of August, 2017 _

It was a beautiful start of a typical summer day in Seoul, South Korea. The sun was rising high into the sky, a soft breeze guiding leaves into a gentle dance, the promise of warmth shining bright against the glass buildings decorating the city. Life burst through the veins of this concrete jungle, millions of people rushing through the streets, cars and trains traveling side by side. 

On a normal day, Boo Seungkwan would be taking his place amidst the city chaos, jumping from one building to another with purpose, eyes moving faster than his feet to observe everything. Today, however, he found himself in the outskirts of the city, surrounded by trees and flowers, listening to the calming melody sung by birds of which the species he would not be able to identify for the life of him.

Standing in front of a steel gate, watching the property before him with wide eyes, he felt a weird sense of cautiousness curse through his body. Through the bars of the fence, a big mansion resided, it’s brown, old walls almost completely hidden from the sun, tall trees all around it blocking most of the morning sun rays. 

A few police cars were spread around the law of the property, and he could see officers walking around, going in and out of the house like ants. The air around him felt moist and heavy, and Seungkwan cursed his luck once again. He always loved solving a good murder case, but did they really have to take place in creepy, old places, isolated from the outisde word and full of dust?

Having recently solved his biggest case so far, a corruption and homicide scandal from a big entertainment company, the detective found himself in the good graces of his superiors, and had hoped to be sent to another big case soon. While he did get his wish granted, being assigned to investigate the murder of Park Taesan, the Chairman of pHC - Park Health Center - one of the most influential chain of hospitals and clinics of the country, he couldn’t help but shiver at the obvious cliche of the place before him, looking like the perfect scenario for a mistery novel.

When he was finally admitted inside the property, Boo Seungkwan held his briefcase and walked to the front of the mansion, briefly stopping to greet the police and ask for any new developments, and soon being received at the door by a slim, foreign-looking man. He introduced himself as Wen Junhui, the butler of the house, and Seungkwan recognized his name as the one who had called the police earlier that morning. The man sported sunken red eyes and a slightly saggy posture, and spoke in a quiet, mild tone, and Seungkwan thought he looked sad and tired, probably affected by his boss's death.

The man led the detective through the halls of the mansion, guiding him to where the Chairman was found by him at sunrise, while retelling the same story he had already told the police earlier that day. Wen Junhui had woken up at 6:30 a.m., his usual time, arranged the scheduled breakfast for Thursdays, and went to wake-up Park Taesan. When he arrived at the master’s bedroom, however, he found his boss not sleeping, but dead on his bed, his clothes stained red all around his heart. The butler claimed to have called the authorities immediately, and had been with the officers for the rest of the morning, up until now. 

Seungkwan stepped inside the master's bedroom, scanning everything with care. As well as the rest of the mansion, the place screamed wealth, with fancy wood cabinets, classy paintings and golden decorations spread around the room, that was big enough to fit his entire apartment inside.

In the center of the bedroom was a king-sized bed, it’s white sheets a stark comparison with the dried blood spread around the Chairman’s body. Getting closer, the detective examined the wound on Park Taesan’s chest, a sharp cut in his sleeping shirt indicating the place where a blade, probably akin to a knife, pierced through his skin.

There were signs that the old business man had struggled against his death, for the sheets were completely ruffled, one pillow tossed to the floor. The bed table drawer was also wide open, a gun on the floor right next to it, with the Chairman’s initials engraved at the handle.

The man’s body was positioned in a telling manner, his right arm stretched towards the direction where the gun resided on the ground, his torso twisted along with it, as if he was still trying to reach for the weapon moments before his death.

Taking his time to fully explore the details from the crime scene, Seungkwan couldn’t help but feel that something was off about it. He could see Taesan’s coin collection still hanging perfectly on the wall across the bed, and the clothes he was supposed to wear for the day folded on the seat of an armchair. On top of his bedside table, a charging phone, a golden watch, a pair of glasses and a prescription pill bottle could be found. 

Everything seemed to be in its place, yet the detective still felt like he was missing something. The words from his ex partner echoed through his mind, leaving him restless. “You are always looking for things that are there, Boo. Remember, the absence of something is what completes stories, never the presence.” she had told him many times, whenever he failed to connect the missing pieces on his cases. 

Thinking of her left a foul taste on his mouth, the wounds still too deep, too recent, so he distracted himself by asking to be led to the Chairman’s personal office, deciding to go after that hunch later. Aside from the bedroom, the office was the only other place in the house where the criminal appeared to have stopped. Junhui guided him along endless hallways and stairs, fully decorated with art pieces and jewelries that looked to almost overflow, screaming of a distasteful need to parade incomparable wealth.

Finally at the room, Boo Seungkwan's first impression was that the man's office was unnecessarily big, with tall ceilings and a crystal chandelier illuminating the mahogany table located at the back of the space. Directly behind it was a fancy cabinet, fully covering the wall and filled with books and folders, as well as a substantial amount of alcohol, bottles of whiskey and wine occupying the shelves. On top of it, 12 marble statues were spread evenly, drawing attention with their angel-like shape and wings that seemed to shine on the somewhat dark office, towering over everything.

Seungkwan moved his eyes to the desk, where blocks of paper were stacked at both sides, looking slightly ruffled. Junhui, standing still at the door, noticed his gaze, and told him about his boss’s habit of leaving everything neatly arranged. The state of which the documents were found made him inform the police earlier that something could have been stolen from the office.

He nodded in thanks and leaned over the table, skimming through the papers in a quick pace. On the right side, there were mostly financial papers, with the Chairman’s personal earnings, spends and receipts. The detective singled out a few documents that caught his attention so he could analyze them later, and proceeded with his search.

The pile on the far left contained a big stack of papers presenting a project of what seemed to be an expansion plan. It looked like Park Taesan intended to add a few more branches to his company, including an international relations one, as well as expansions inside their country, planned for the next year. It also mentioned something about increasing funds for the research and development of a new technology in the health industry, related to artificial organs.

Boo Seungkwan remembered reading an article a few weeks ago about JP Healthcare, another health related company, but a lot younger than pHC, that was starting to work with this same subject. They were currently working on perfecting the usage of 3D printers to manufacture some artificial organs and testing their safety and effectiveness, intending to be the pioneers of this technology in the science field by investing the majority of their resources on their research.

Thinking over it, the detective noticed that the plans on his hands lacked several details about pHC’s development of the new technology, as well as dates and goals for the wanted expansion inside their country. It appeared like the Chairman had wanted to keep those plans a secret to the general public, since no news about any of those projects could be found in the media, and the man hadn't even wanted to keep too much information about his plans at home. 

Since pHC was a well established company within South Korea, having been part of the top medical centers in Seoul for over twenty years, and acquired a significant media support during this time, Seungkwan had no doubt that if any competition ended up happening between the two companies, JP Healthcare would suffer the most out of them. 

Holding the stack of papers in his hands, the detective knew that if information about the Chairman’s research plans had fallen in the hands of JP Healthcare managers, they would have to do something to either speed their process for this new technology, or hinder pHC’s progress until they had a solid product to present to the public. And what better thing to slow down a company than to get rid of its owner? 

Mind running miles per minute, he conceded that at first glance, this looked like a classic competitive quarrel. JP Healthcare would lose a lot of money if those new plans of Chairman Park were successful, and so they decided to stop his progress before it could harm their place in the market. 

However, during his 6 years working as a detective, Boo Seungkwan had learned that the simplest answer was not always the correct one, and if his guts were telling him something, it was that there was a lot more to this story than what meets the eye. Everything seemed to be perfectly arranged in a way that pointed towards this “eliminating the competition” theory, and that’s exactly what was bothering him deeply. 

After some time thinking over it, he shook his head to center his thoughts, and soon finished going through all the documents at the office table, taking record of everything that could prove itself to be useful for his investigation.

Now, standing at the entrance of the mansion again, briefcase full and a small bundle of papers in his hands, the detective had a smile on his face. He had started writing down the names of the people he planned to interrogate on his black leather notebook, all of them closely affiliated to the Chairman, and the third one on the list appeared to be particularly interesting after the conversation he had with the police.

This had been the last person Park Taesan had called yesterday, directly from his personal phone at 9:40 in the night, and the man had also received a significant number of payments from the Chairman in the last few months. However, there was no record of what services he had been providing for the victim, and no address or major information under his name on the database, besides a single cell phone number in the area and a school record. 

Boo Seungkwan typed the number on his phone, and waited anxiously while the call rang. The wind picked up in an instant, and there were leaves flowing all around him when someone answered on the other side of the line, in a strong and short hello.

"Good morning sir, I am Boo Seungkwan, detective of the Seoul Police Department. Is this Lee Jihoon speaking?"

♤

_ 23th of January, 2017 _

Lee Jihoon woke up suddenly, bothered by something that his sleep muddled brain couldn’t identify. He laid flat on his back, buried under thick covers, feeling boneless and comfortable, and couldn't imagine what could have made disturbed him awake in the first place.

Refusing to open his eyes fully, hoping he would be able to fall asleep again, he turned his head to the side, and finally noticed the light directed at his face. He had apparently forgotten to close the damn blinds yesterday, and now the beginnings of sunrise were starting to show through the window, mellow rays of sunshine heating his skin and the sound of hundreds of people starting their days reaching his ears.

He closed his eyes again, cursing the sun for having interrupted his sleep, and tried to relax and forget his responsibilities for the day, which were already trying to occupy his tired, slow mind. The detective had so much paperwork to finish down at his office, and he still hadn't been able to close the last case he had been hired to solve. He should probably try to look over the reports he had gotten from the witnesses again, just to make sure he hadn't missed anything, and then he could try to swing by the med bay and see if they were done with their analysis and...

All of a sudden, he felt a small movement on the bed, the sheets ruffling and a warm breath hitting his neck, tickling his skin and giving him goosebumps at the same time. He turned to look at the source of the noise, and was immediately snapped awake by the sight he was met with. 

He must have been in a really deep slumber to have forgotten about the man that was currently laying beside him, lean body twisted towards his side of the bed. Soft, dark brown curls spread around his pillow, now brushing against Jihoon’s face due to the small distance between them. The detective took a moment to admire the others face, eyes travelling through his closed eyes and small lashes, down to the planes of his sharp nose and heart shaped lips. He drank into the sight, breathing slowly and letting himself drown in the fruity smell coming from the other.

The man moved again, slowly as if sensing his stare, and soon opened his eyes, which shone almost like honey under the sunlight, warm and sweet. Jihoon watched as he smiled sleepily, stretching his limbs before leaning in closer to brush a strand of hair out of the detective’s face.

“Morning Hoonie. Did you sleep well?” the man asked, voice still rough after a whole night of sleep.

“You know I did.” he answered, already expecting the teasing smirk that made his way into the other man's face. His eyes followed him as he slowly sat up on the bed, his back bare and milky skin on display, begging Jihoon to press kisses against it, just like the night before. Indulging himself a bit, he settled instead for running his fingers lightly over the lines of the other’s back, feeling the shuddering under his fingertips. 

“If you keep doing that, I am going to be late to my meeting, and our friend will not be happy with that.” he said, swatting Jihoon’s hands jokingly and finally standing up.

Jihoon watched from the bed as the man moved around his room, dressing himself with the clothes thrown over a chair, after rummaging through his closet to search for a clean, white button down shirt he had left there some time ago. 

“How much time do you think we still need to gather everything?” he asked, while the other finished straightening out his suit jacket. 

“With all the information we have compiled till now, and at the speed he has been able to give us more, I’d say about one year, give or take.” the answer made Jihoon curse, and the other faced him with a small smile, pausing on his way to the bathroom.

“I know love, I am not happy either. But although Park Taesan is an asshole, he is certainly a slippery one, so we have to be very careful while collecting evidence about him if we don’t want him to notice. But we will get him eventually, you know we will.”

Jihoon just mumbled and flopped down on the bed again, mulling over his words. The sooner they could expose all the corruption and crimes committed by Taesan, the better. But the other was right, the Chairman had too many connections and influence, they needed something really solid to be able to bring him down, and it had to come as a surprise attack either, otherwise things would not be pretty for them. 

In what felt just like a few seconds, the brown haired man came back into the bedroom, now fully dressed and freshened-up, swiftly gathering his briefcase and phone before moving closer to Jihoon, leaning down to give him a goodbye kiss. The detective melted against the others mouth, the fresh taste of toothpaste sticking to his tongue even after their lips parted.

"I'll text you an update as soon as the meeting is over Hoonie. Don’t forget to eat lunch again, see you.” with those brief words, the other was gone, leaving only a trace of the strawberry scent that always accompanied him behind. Jihoon waited until he heard the sound of the door to his apartment closing and locking before sighing loudly, already missing the warm presence beside him.

The detective closed his eyes again, taking one deep breath before forcing himself off his bed, planning to take a quick shower and rush to the station, head already full of endless concerns.

They had been trying to put Park Taesan behind bars for almost a year now, after one of his operations went, once again, a bit too far. He had discovered the corruption and been helpless against it for some time, until those two came into his life. Jihoon knew that he would have never been able to obtain the amount of information and proof that he had now had it not been for the brown haired man and his other friend, but that did not mean he liked the circumstances. 

He felt like they were under too much risk, betting everything they had in a one in a million chance. They were hiding in plain sight at the dragon's den, just waiting for the moment it would smell their presence and close it's nails against their necks. 

Nonetheless, Jihoon was sure that there was no easier way to take down the Chairman, and he fully trusted the brown haired man and his friend. If there was someone able to pull it all off, it was them. He just hoped they were not caught in this dangerous game they were playing. Deep down, he knew that he would never let any harm come to the brown haired man, even if he had to kill Park Taesan himself.

"Let it never come to this. I don’t really want to be a killer." he thought, taking off his clothes and jumping into the shower, letting the warm water wash down his worries in a gentle caress.

**Author's Note:**

> Hii, thank you for reading! I hope you have enjoyed this first chapter, comments, kuddos and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Wishing you all a good day, and I'll hopefully see you guys next week.


End file.
